Page 79 of I Will Mend You
With those bleak thoughts, I decided to buy some books on trauma and work through the exercises with Amy. I will be hertherapist and help her sift through the nightmares. I will mend her fragile heart.
The next morning, Lyle arrived from his legal wrangling with Three Fates, looking like he hadn’t slept. He crashed on the sofa while Amy and I picked up Heath from the hospital.
Amy was in better spirits, seeming relieved that Heath was given a clean bill of health. I ordered a crib with wider slats, placed an inch apart, making the spaces barely large enough to fit a baby’s hand. It’s still a mystery how this could happen to a newborn, but I wasn’t about to tempt fate again.
I was so wrung out from all the stress that I trudged past the living room, not bothering to wake Lyle, and took Heath upstairs. After feeding him, I fell into a deep sleep.
When I woke up, I found Amy carrying Heath out of the room.
FORTY-TWO
XERO
It took every ounce of willpower to tear myself away from Amethyst and leave her in Isabel’s care. Our attention was already divided enough with the explosion at the asylum and the driver trying to escape via helicopter.
I rush back to the bridge, where the four operatives I left in charge of the drones are glued to their laptop screens.
“Jynxson,” I say through my Bluetooth headset. “Report.”
“Looks like the asylum had a gas leak,” he replies. “Major casualties on their side. Minor injuries on ours.”
“What do you need?” I ask.
“It’s already settled. Dennis is currently en route to transport the injured hostages.”
“Good.” I turn to one of the operatives at the laptop. “Status on the helicopter?”
“Its passengers are armed with machine guns. This drone has taken damage to its targeting system.”
“Can you stabilize it?” I ask.
He shakes his head. “Impossible. And the other drone’s weapon mount is toast. We’ve lost tracking and fire control.”
I clench my teeth. In other words, we’re flying blind and defenseless. “And the drones we sent to the asylum?”
“Already en route to the helicopter. Should be there in three minutes.”
Time is against us. I sent a team to pursue the car, but they’re ill equipped to handle an aerial assault, let alone take down a helicopter. At best, they can shoot at the driver when he finally emerges.
“Hey, Xero,” Tyler says in the Bluetooth. “Just re-established contact with Camila. She’s asking what you want to do about the men left behind in the penthouse.”
“Stay clear until further notice.”
I have a hunch that the helicopter personnel are attacking the drones instead of flying to safety because they’re protecting Father. Why else would they leave the investors’ meet and greet to help out a simple driver? Father is in the front seat, within killing range. Any other time, I would rush to assist in his capture or to kill him outright, but my priority is Amethyst.
“Keep me updated,” I say as I leave the bridge.
When I return to where I left Amethyst, Isabel has her laid out on a cot, covered in blankets, and is cutting through the bandage on her leg. The skin beneath the fabric is marred with red and inflamed cuts.
My feet root to the floor, the sight hitting me like a punch to the chest. “What the hell did they do to her?”
“These are incisions.” She runs a pad of gauze over each laceration. “They’re too precise and shallow to be anything else but torture.”
“How was she able to escape in this condition?”
She sighs, the sound carrying a weight of sorrow. “They would have injected her with painkillers, and antifibrinolytics to stop her from bleeding out, and any manner of stimulants to keep her functional but capable of suffering.”
My mind conjures up a vivid image of Amethyst, helpless and trapped in that straitjacket, drugged against her will and forced to endure relentless torture and pain. Hot fury charges through my veins, pulsing with each beat of my heart.